Rajnath slams Akhilesh, demands Prez rule in UP

Police in action as Congress workers protest against the Muzaffarnagar riots, burning an effigy of state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, in Allahabad. (PTI Photo)

A day after a sting operation captured Muzaffarnagar cops admitting that political pressure had made the police go soft on persons indulging in violence, the BJP demanded President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh, accusing the state government of escalating the violence.

A news channel had aired a sting operation on Tuesday, showing some policemen saying Azam Khan, a senior minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, had asked them to release seven men involved in the initial violence in Muzaffarnagar, a move that had triggered further riots.

"Considering the situation, there seems to be no option but to impose President's Rule in Uttar Pradesh", BJP chief Rajnath Singh told reporters in Guwahati.

Blaming the Akhilesh Yadav government for the current disturbance in Uttar Pradesh, Singh alleged that the Samajwadi Party government had been working on communal lines.

“If the UPA government doesn’t take action on the Uttar Pradesh government, it will reflect that there has been tacit understanding between Congress and SP. The SP government in UP adopts a policy of divide and rule”, added Singh.

“TV channels have shown who is responsible for the riots. The Centre should act against the state government now. SP leaders involved in this must be tried,” said BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said here. “Why has the Centre taken no action till now? Doesn’t it show match-fixing.”

Trivedi sought to know what SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav – who called the flare-up a caste conflict – would say now. He added, “The shameful silence of those organisations and individuals who constantly shout about the Gujarat riots of 2002 shows that they are inspired not by a sense of justice but by bias.”

BJP spokesman Sudanshu Trivedi said, "The expose proves beyond doubt who is behind the riots. The SP government was completely involved in the events and had a politically motivated, lopsided view of the whole issue."